Fire Ants: Any suggestions?

I usually let them be, but they actually became dangerous this year. I had huge castles about 2 feet wide pop up throughout the yard. It was nearly impossible to avoid them. I tried various remedies including DE, but nothing seemed to work.

I reluctantly decided to use a toxin, but wanted something that would work without reapplication. I used over n' out around March. It took 8 weeks or so as the mounds relocated everywhere (including bags of potting soil!) and seemed worse. Finally, it seemed to work. BUT now they are back and as aggressive as ever. Any suggestions?

I've been told that beneficial nematodes work, but at the same time, one of our teachers for Master Gardener class said he used Over and Out.

slcdms post in Mid-South Gardening on Aug 16th 2:06 PM started a thread for this very topic. This is War or something to that effect. Some great responses. Hope this helps.

This was the last one I saw. http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/891153/

We apply beneficial nematodes and have totally eradicated our ant problem. We also sprinkle dry molasses on our yard to help control the ants.

Sheila - that is the one.

Thanks for posting the thread link Sheila I really need to get the stuff they have listed there for a recipe to try.
I believe I am having a reaction to the dang bites on my feet. my ankles and feet were swollen for 4 days and no matter how much I put them up it didn't go down until I took some benadryl.

If you take zantac with the benadryl it will work better to control the swelling. histamine blocker

local reactions with fire ants are the norm (the swelling) but some reactions can be deadly. Any reaction not related to the bite site is a cause for action.

No zantac but I do watch myself for any other reactions
if the swelling hadn't gone down I was headin to the doctor.

Thanks all! Maybe they are just "visiting" from all the rain. I'll give it a few more days and then I guess try club soda.

Are the nematodes temp sensitive or seasonal?

From what I understand, it's best to put it out one or two times a year...if I remember correctly. I use a spinosad bait product and like it a lot.

We used spinosad earlier this summer and it worked great!

ok silly question what is spinosad and where do you find it?
and where would I find nematodes?

Mine is called Fire Ant Control with Conserve. I think it's sold at nurseries and maybe the big box stores too.

It's my understanding that nematodes don't like the heat. I don't know, yet, where to get them other than Gardens Alive!

We got our spinosad at Lowe's. I think it was called Justice.. Here's an article about it from A&M: http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/extension/newsletters/hortupdate/mar04/Spinosad.html

ok well I am writing things down so we can see if we can find any of it around here but will have to wait until after Gustav goes through the next couple of days as I'm sure the rain will make it less effective.

I had fire ants on my okra in a raised flower bed - the only pest I've ever seen on okra. I had Amdro and sprinkled it on the grass below the raised bed thinking they'd take it to the mound, and they did. The mound turned out to be in the okra roots - so now I guess I don't dare eat the okra. Would baking soda be a more organic solution? Or molasses as mentioned above? I tried Spinosad, but one application didn't do anything, so maybe it takes many sprayings. I'll go read about Justice, now. I love okra and I'm sad.... any help for organic solutions is welcome.

Marylyn, I don't know what TAM is doing to us. That is the second scary article I have read lately. This one kills the caterpillars (butterflies incld). The other encouraged raising the fly that implants it's eggs in the cats so they die. They claimed it is to control boll worms on cotton crops. They aren't homing pigeons
We have less and less butterflies and bees each year; hope I don't live to see them dissappear.

Oh Sheila - I hadn't read the article yet. That's not acceptable to me. I have too many wasps eating monarch and swallowtail cats as it is. I'm going to research the baking soda and molasses. I was just using the end of an Amdro box - and that wasn't working well other places anyway.

Our fire ant mounds weren't near any flowers, so we weren't worried about bees or butterflies at the time. We didn't have to reapply at all, as the ants were gone almost immediately.

Sorry I didn't mean it that way Marylyn. But so many people that don't plant for butterflies, will spray the whole yards not realizing that caterpillars travel great distances sometimes from their host plants to make their chrysalis.
We were attacked last year in the spring by the web worms in DFW area and everyone grabbed the pesticides, over-reacted. Not understanding that if you kill the bad caterpillars, you also kill the good ones.

I too treat ant hills or beds. Lately I have tried the ones that have the enclosed traps. Seem to have some results with those in areas i can't put liquid or spray. Now if I could get the mosquitoes under control!

Spinosad is SUPPOSED to help with skeeters too. I used it last year. Can't say I could tell a lot of difference, though. I sprayed my entire lawn with it last year. I didn't do any direct applications to my beds, because the label also warns that it will kill bees while it's wet. I didn't see any reduction in bees or butterflies. Didn't use it this year, but had way fewer butterflies anyway. (Although I DID see a monarch Sunday, and thought I saw another one yesterday. Isn't it a bit early for them?)

We've also used Cedar-cide for mosquitoes. That's supposed to repel them for about a month, but we could only see a difference for a couple of days. The best remedy we've found is, this year, having a big crop of toads around. The skeeters are still here, but not as many.

Someone asked about the nematodes not liking hot weather. You're not supposed to apply them when temps are over 90 degrees. In past years we've applied them as late as early June, and they were still successful. Some people also put them down in September, when it begins to cool off. I've never done that because one application has been enough. But if you missed the spring application, you can still do a fall one.

We first applied nematodes to get rid of the termites that were invading our sun room. Discovered the side benefits of treating the ants as well. The first year, we started in April and did 3 applications. One in April, one in May, and one in the fall...late Sept/early Oct. The 2nd year, we only did 2 applications, one in the spring, one in the fall. This year, we've only done 1 treatment.

For the most part, I leave the ants in the flower beds alone because they're not fire ants. We did have a serious problem with fire ants in late spring near the entry to our house. We tried several organic treatments with no success. We finally called our organic pest control company to come out and treat. Whatever they did worked! The technician said the key to getting rid of ants is to disrupt the smell of the trail since ants travel by smell.

We've also seen an increase in the gecko population (minus the ones my cats seem to find) as well as the lizard population. Not as many butterflies as last year, but I did have my first hummer come to visit this year!

Stephanie

We use Green light fire ant control w/ Conserve. You can get it at Lowe's for about $11 a bag.

It is the Spinosad granular type bait. It works, but rain will carry it off. I find a little on top of a mound normally works just fine, but some stubborn mounds require a second coating. It is even considered organic I think. I broadcast it around the kiddie's playscape, and that really worked.

Same here, stephanie, with the anoles and geckos. We had quite a few last year, but this year they are just everywhere. We've also had toads all over the place for the first time. There's been a non-stop population of tadpoles in my pond since June.

And, I have hummers this year too--not my first, but the first in several years. I've been out watching them so much lately that they've gotten used to me, and occasionally get in my face. I love it!

For several years I've used the same tactic - boiling water from the tea kettle poured into the entry hole. A big mound will need a second kettleful. By pouring carefully I can avoid killing surrounding vegetation and the mound collapses - ants gone. Thus far this year only one mound. Of course for an acreage this method would be too labor intensive.

I have a safe & environmentally product that you can buy at Lowe's..I asked the poison control of Texas what I could use & they told me the product by Safer, called Fire Ant Bait is safe around pets. Which is imporatnt for me as I have dogs. I have used this & it does work..I used it IN my garden as well. It's not a powder but little beads.

thanks for that info, cindylove. I am planning on getting chickens and I have fire ants popping up all the time and didn't want to use anything toxic around them. I'll get some at Lowe's.

well..I wouldn't recommend you placing this stuff right where the chickens eat as they could easily think it's feed as it could look like it.

Oh, never thought of that. thanks

you are more than welcome :0)

I listen to Howard Garett's Garden Show on the radio on Saturday mornings. He promotes environmentally safe and organic products and say one of the better products to use is Green Light Fire Ant Control with Conserve. He also has wonderful things to say about beneficial nematodes.

We have a big fire ant and leaf cutter/harvester ant problem out in the back fields. I've been putting the ant granules on every mound I come across and have been seeing some remarkable results. I think it has been killing off the soldiers and queens as I haven't been seeing too many 'new' mounds show up. I traverse an area of about two hundred acres and haven't noticed any that look like re-located colonies.

Hopefully over time they will be eradicated from our property...but trouble is since the area is brush country there's sure to be more in other neighboring properties and no doubt they will re-surface. Guess that might mean more applications but so far so good.

~ Cat

This message was edited Dec 27, 2008 8:13 PM

There is no such thing as completely eliminating Fire ants, but I have controlled them for years with AMDRO Fire Ant Bait and I am pleased with its results. It is not a quick fix product, however.

In 2007, I applied "AMDRO Ant Block Home Perimeter" around my house and my guest cabin. This year I did not notice any carpenter ants or any other ants in or anywhere around these dwellings.

Amdro has a new product on the market called AMDRO FireStrike. This taken from the Amdro website, "This proprietary dual-active formula contains hydramethylnon and methoprene for season long control. The unique combination delivers powerful 3-way protection against fire ants: 1) Kills the Queen, 2) Sterilizes new invading Queens, 3) Prevents new mounds from forming."

Here is the link to the Amdro website: http://www.amdro.com/Amdro/index.html

Hope this helps.

I would highly recomend the beneficial nematodes. I have a toddler that eats dirt and was constantly being attacked by fire ants. After reading the lables and warnings of several "safe" products at Lowes I decided nematodes would be much safer for my dirt eating daughter. I didn't exactly apply them evenly over the yard. I mixed the nematode mixture with rain water in my watering can and watered the mounds I saw and in areas where I had seen ants previously. I think I did both applications at night since it was in May when temperatures were highter (and my daughter was sleeping).

It took a few weeks for the mounds to completly die out, but I have been amazed that no new mounds have formed anywhere in the front or back yard. I have a bed in the back of the yard that has some ants in it, but they don't seem to swarm or bite like fire ants do. I will occasionally see ants wandering, but none of us have been bitten. I would recomend beneficial bacteria if you have pets, children, or want something that doesn't kill the good bugs/insects.

I can't find what company I ordered online from, but both companies I looked at only ship on certain days so that the nematodes don't die over the weekend during shipping. The dry ice and fast shipping added to the price, but even on our very tight budget, I think the extra cost is worth the piece of mind and fire ant free yard.
-Tabitha

that is so true Texasgarden & where we live the fire ants are able to spread to other lots & not everyone treats them. I have two dogs & one got bit last year so I hope to be able to at least control them in my area.

Tab where are you ordering from?
I know I already put down milky spore once this last fall to start working on the grubs to get rid of moles and such but not sure who to go with for nematodes.

off thread though how far are you from the mall in Humble by 59???
my daughter's apt. is just a couple blocks away on ...i think it is 1960

might have to meet up for a soda next time I am down there lol

As previously posted on another thread, I have had excellent results in getting rid of fire ants by using grits.......sprinkling instant grits on the mound in dry weather. The ants eat the grits and then apparently unable to digest them, expire.

I've recommended this before to others, and they have also seen great results.

Grits?? WOW....I am going to try that for sure!!!!!! Thanks Sterling_tx

I remember hearing something about grits before. Along time ago, someone told me that after they eat the grits that if they get water, the grits expand and kill them. I was thinking it was for mice though not sure. Maybe works for both.
Mike